Rochester Man Charged with Killing City Teenager

Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A Rochester man has been charged in Sunday’s killing of a city teenager.

25-year-old Alexander Weiss was arraigned Wednesday morning on a charge of 2nd-degree murder without intent. His conditional bail was set at $75,000. He is also prohibited from the use or possession of a firearm.

Police say Weiss had a permit for the 9mm gun he used to shoot 17-year-old Muhammed Rahim. Weiss told police he shot in self-defense.

Before the decision on the murder charge was made Tuesday, police investigators say they received a “helpful statement” from a woman who actually witnessed the shooting. The woman contacted investigators after police issued an alert seeking the driver of a vehicle who was at the scene of the shooting. The woman - who was on her way to church - told police she was initially forced to stop her vehicle because of the confrontation. She says she became very frightened after witnessing the shooting and drove off. She flagged down a police officer a few blocks away, reported the shooting and then left.

Here are some portions of the criminal complaint:

According to a friend of Rahim who was riding in the car, “ Victim got very close to WEISS, puffing his chest out with his hands down, after Victim got out of the Cavalier. WEISS pulled out a gun and pointed it at Victim. Victim told WEISS, “I f***ing dare you to do it,” and WEISS shot Victim in the chest. Victim dropped to the ground. According to Witness 1, neither he nor Victim had touched WEISS before he fired his handgun at Victim. However, Witness 1 acknowledged that he and Victim were posturing and speaking aggressively toward WEISS.”

During his interview with police, Weiss said “ Victim made physical contact by shoving WEISS in his chest. At that point, WEISS pulled the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the ground so that Victim would know that he had a gun. WEISS also told Victim, “Stop, I will detain you until the police arrive if I have to.” According to WEISS, Victim responded to WEISS pulling out the gun, saying “that’s not even a real gun” and spat at WEISS. In WEISS’s account, he backed up and told Victim to stop and Victim reached out to touch the gun. WEISS then cocked the gun by pulling back the slide and shot Victim at “point blank” range.”

The woman who witnessed the shooting said she ”stopped, briefly, and saw two men (WEISS and Witness 1) facing each other in the roadway, approximately two to three feet apart. Witness 2 then witnessed WEISS pull the gun from his pocket, raise the gun and fire one shot at Victim. According to Witness 2, Victim was not touching WEISS, nor wasVictim raising a fist or advancing toward WEISS at the time WEISS fired a shot at Victim.”